Tag Archives: Ethics Opinions

What Are Lawyers’ Ethical Responsibilities For Their Clients’ Mental Health?

02 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Ethics Opinions, Legal Ethics, Research

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Clients and Suicide: The Lawyer’s Dilemma, by Ken Strutin, LLRX.com

http://www.llrx.com/features/lawyerclientssuicide.htm

Imagine representing Socrates and then learning that he was planning to take hemlock, what should counsel have done?1 It is a question that would have perplexed the wisest of his time and ours.2 Add twenty-four centuries and the issues are all the more complicated.3

Mental health challenges abound in many precincts of modern society, including the practice of law,4 the prosecution and punishment of crime5 and the representation of clients.6 The stress of prosecution or litigation, whether it means risking a prison term, unemployment, bankruptcy, eviction, broken family relations, isolation, or other serious consequences can create or exacerbate a vulnerable and dangerous state of mind in a client.

Client suicidal thoughts, attempts or actions expose the intimacies of human autonomy and test the limits of the attorney-client relationship. They cross a range of legal, moral and medical contexts: professional responsibility, client confidentiality, effective assistance of counsel, legal malpractice, criminal liability, and end of life issues. So it is that attorneys confronted with signs of suicidal intentions in their clients need to be conscious of their legal and ethical responsibilities.7

This article collects notable materials on this complex and sensitive topic, including ethics opinions, law reviews, bibliographies and other resources. . . .

NFPA Paralegal Informal Ethics and Disciplinary Opinions and Articles.

04 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Ethics, Lawyer Supervision, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Unauthorized Practice of Law

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Positions and Issues – Ethics, National Federation of Paralegal Associations

http://www.paralegals.org/default.asp?page=31

At this link, you will find documents and articles on paralegal ethics written by members of NFPA and NFPA Informal Ethics and Disciplinary Opinions.

NFPA is not the only national paralegal association to have an ethical code or to public ethics and disciplinary opinions. Also, be advised that those states that have regulated paralegals likewise have ethical requirements. Paralegals are also obligated to follow state ethical rules for lawyers in the states in which they work. Ethical rules and opinions published by the American Bar Association are advisory, not mandatory, on both lawyers and legal support staff.

Therese Cannon and Deborah Orlik have both written excellent books on paralegal ethics. I highly recommend each. If you are researching what ethical guidelines for non-lawyers, your research should include all ethical rules and guidelines that have been set by national and your state paralegal associations, as well as your state bar association.

Ethics for non-lawyer support staff may sometimes have indistinct, grey lines. If you are smart, you will take a step back when you see them. When it comes to ethical considerations, it is always best to proceed slowly or not at all. If you must err, then choose to err with caution. I strongly urge you to back away from anything that might give the appearance of impropriety or a breach of ethics. -CCE

Georgetown’s Legal Ethics Research Guide.

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Legal Ethics

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Legal Ethics Research Guide, Georgetown Law Library

http://bit.ly/1mx4ms9

This guide focuses on the codes of professional ethics and ethics opinions available from the American Bar Association and various state bar associations. Contents of this guide include Codes of Professional Ethics and ethics opinions.

Introduction

When researching issues of legal ethics, you will need to consult sources beyond the familiar cases and statutes, such as codes of professional ethics and ethics opinions issued by state and national bar associations. To assist you with your research, there are numerous secondary sources that focus specifically on issues in legal ethics. These secondary sources, including books and journal articles, are designed to help you understand the issues and locate primary materials.

This guide will give you an overview of the materials available, both print and online, that you will need to conduct your research in legal ethics. Locations of materials in the library are given. . . .

Teaching Metadata and ABA Metadata Ethics Opinion Chart.

07 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Metadata, Research

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Teaching Metadata As Part Of Legal Research, by Shawn Friend, RIPS Law Librarian Blog

http://tinyurl.com/kgbsmb8

Please note the ABA Chart in the quote below. If you have trouble with the link, try:  http://tinyurl.com/4fld5lt. The chart is definitely worth a bookmark. -CCE

This issue has been around for some time. The ABA has formal ethics opinions on the release of and use of metadata. There is a compiled chart of action taken on metadata by the state bars or ethics commissions.